


gold rush, face flushed

by baobabie



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28284606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baobabie/pseuds/baobabie
Summary: “You can kiss me, if you want,” Ty Lee says, right as Azula takes another sip of her beer.It goes flying all over the floor, some landing on her own sleeve, which Azula registers on some level--but that doesn’t feel significant right now. What matters is the charged way that Ty Lee is looking at her, like her eyes are glued to Azula’s face.And...well. Azula would be lying if she said she’d never considered it.
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 101





	gold rush, face flushed

Azula leans over the railing, sighing as she watches the people making a ruckus below. The balcony provided a bird’s eye view of her classmates hanging out at Chan’s garden; some were smoking up in a circle, others were milling about at the pool, while, a few meters away, Chan himself was doing a keg stand with the other football players egging him on. 

A cool gust of wind hits her, and Azula shivers. She wishes, not for the first time, that she had put on more layers instead of wearing a short dress. 

She had gone into this party hoping to partake in the teenage experience that she _knew_ she was missing out on. Instead, she was all alone, with only a pack of beer bottles to keep her company. Normally, she wouldn’t be caught dead hiding by herself at another person’s balcony...but this night is an exception. She feels lost and out of her depth; it’s an unfamiliar sensation, and it’s not something she wants to get used to. 

A bunch of guys whoop loudly below, and Azula watches as Chan teeters precariously, moving around with all the gracefulness of a newly born fawn, before vomiting loudly on his own lawn. 

She crinkles her nose. It was hard to believe that half an hour ago, she was seriously considering kissing him. There really was something off with her tonight.

“What the hell am I doing,” she mutters, before downing the rest of her drink, grateful that she had the mind to bring alcohol along with her. She feels like a loser. She _is_ a loser. She should just go home, save what little face she has left, and--

“There you are!” Ty Lee exclaims. “I was looking all over for you.”

Azula glances behind her. Ty Lee opens the door and steps into the balcony, a relieved look on her face. 

“Oh,” Azula says. “You found me.”

Ty Lee beams at her, before curiously taking in their surroundings. “This is cool,” she says, as she pokes around with one of the potted plants. “I’ve never been to Chan’s balcony before.” 

_Of course you haven’t_ , Azula thinks, before pushing away from the railing. “It’s a good vantage point,” she says, before gesturing at the scenery below. “I get to see everybody make a fool of themselves without the risk of getting beer spilled all over me.” 

Ty Lee hums, and peers over the railing as well, only to make a look of disgust at the sight of Chan still puking his guts out. “Oh, _gross._ I can almost smell his vomit from here.”

Azula smirks, then opens up another bottle. Ty Lee sneaks a glance at the bottle in her hands - her eyebrows furrow slightly, but she doesn’t say anything as she quickly looks back at the people below them. 

“Okay, I think he’s done throwing up,” she notes, but Azula can’t be bothered to look. Instead she leans back against the wall, taking in the new sight in front of her. Ty Lee’s getup exposed even more skin than Azula’s, but she seemed thoroughly unfazed by the night chill.

 _Objectively_ , Azula had always known that her friend was good-looking, but there were times when it gave even her pause. Tonight was one of those times. Ty Lee had a soft and natural beauty, with warm eyes and an inviting smile. The moonlight only served to magnify her beauty.

“I saw you and Chan earlier,” Ty Lee says, breaking her out of her reverie. Azula blinks--she didn’t realize she was already staring--and looks at the ceiling instead. 

“What exactly did you see?” 

“Not much,” Ty Lee says, shrugging. “I just saw you walking away, him gaping after you, and...I don’t know. I wanted to talk to you in case it was like, bad.”

Azula sighs, before slowly shaking her head. “Nothing bad happened. He just wanted to kiss me.”

Ty Lee blinks. “Oh! And...you didn’t want to?”

“I considered it,” Azula admits. “Thankfully, my senses came back to me.”

Ty Lee nods, strumming her fingers on the railing. “Chan’s not a very good kisser,” she says, after a long pause. “He does this thing with his tongue...like he’s trying to deepthroat you with it. It’s not appealing.”

“...Right,” Azula says, the uneasy feeling returning to the pit of her stomach. “Thanks for the warning, I suppose.”

“You know, just in case you do want to kiss him next time.”

“I don’t,” Azula says, immediately. Then she sighs. “But...I probably should, and Chan’s as good a person as any.”

Ty Lee tilts her head as she looks at Azula. “You don’t _have_ to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I know that,” Azula says, looking away. “I-I just wanted to get it over with,” she adds lamely. 

Jesus, she really is a mess.

Ty Lee blinks owlishly at her. “Get what over with?”

Azula lets out a frustrated huff, before fixing Ty Lee with a look that could bring grown men to their knees. “Swear to me you won’t tell anybody.”

“Um...”

“ _Ty Lee_.”

“Okay, I swear! What’s going on?” 

Azula stares at her bottle, the contents of which have never been more appealing than they were now, unable to look at Ty Lee straight in the eye. "It’s just that…I’ve never kissed anyone before,” she whispers.

There’s silence, and then--

“ _Really!?”_ Ty Lee exclaims. Azula bristles at the disbelief at her tone. “You’ve never--”

“I know how it sounds,” Azula snaps, eyes flashing up, and some part of her relishes the way Ty Lee flinches a little. 

It’s ridiculous, really. Azula has it all; she was a rich, multi-talented prodigy, who could play Rachmaninoff blindfolded and eviscerate a man’s sense of worth with just her words. And yet, the mere prospect of kissing somebody was so unnerving that she had to hide out here. 

“Sorry, it’s just...whoa,” Ty Lee says. “I wasn’t expecting that. Honestly, when you made me swear not to tell, I thought you were gonna say you wanted to kill Chan or something.”

“Well, I have considered that before,” Azula mutters. “Just not tonight.”

Ty Lee giggles before biting her lip, a faraway look in her eyes. A lull in the conversation follows. 

“You can kiss me, if you want,” she says eventually, right as Azula takes another sip of her beer.

It goes flying all over the floor, some landing on her own sleeve, which Azula registers on _some_ level--but that doesn’t feel significant right now. What matters is the charged way that Ty Lee is looking at her, like her eyes are glued to Azula’s face. 

Azula coughs and wipes her mouth. Her face feels hot all of a sudden, and she tries to ignore the distant ringing sound in her ears, the way her heart is hammering in her chest, as she absorbs what Ty Lee just said. 

“W-What?” 

"You can kiss me," she repeats, loudly.

"I _heard_ you. I'm not deaf, I'm just--what? Are you patronizing me right now? Because I refuse to be a pity project--"

"I'm not!" Ty Lee says hurriedly, waving her hands around urgently, and the sight of it would have made Azula smile if she wasn’t on the verge of having a heart attack. "I'm just offering. Like, if you're up for it. But if you're not, that's totally fine."

"I am definitely _not--_ " Azula starts, before pausing.

Because...well.

She’d be lying if she said she’d never considered it. 

The thought had occurred to her. Several times, actually, and it had been happening more frequently lately. 

And now, Ty Lee herself was offering to make that thought a reality.

Azula clears her throat. "I--you just caught me off-guard."

"Sorry," Ty Lee says, a tiny pout on her face. "I was just...putting it out there, but we can forget I ever said anything if you want."

"No, it's fine," Azula says, before taking a deep breath. "You've--I'm assuming you've never kissed a girl before?"

Ty Lee shrugs. “My first kiss was with a girl. It’s no big deal.”

Azula splutters for a few seconds, which--what the hell, she’s not Zuko. “ _Your first kiss was with a--_ who was this? _When_ was this?” 

“Mina! Do you remember her? Around my height, curly hair, wore glasses? We were thirteen, I think.”

Azula does remember her, the mousy little thing. She thinks about her and Ty Lee kissing and something cold and jealous coils in her stomach. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“I don’t know, you just seemed above that kind of stuff,” Ty Lee says thoughtfully. “Mai never cared about it either.”

“Who else have you kissed?” Azula demands, aware that this is starting to sound like an interrogation, but the information suddenly seemed imperative and Ty Lee didn’t seem to mind.

“Um, so there’s Mina, of course...there’s also Hikaru, Jia, and Suzue,” she says, counting them with her fingers. “As for the boys…"

 _There’s more?_ Azula thinks.

“...There’s Daisuke, Haru...Yukihiro...”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Azula says, her voice strained. “I knew you were--popular, Ty Lee, but that’s something else.”

Ty Lee stills, and then her lips waver slightly, the way they usually did before she would burst into tears. Her eyes are wide and plaintive as she looks at Azula. “Do you...think that’s a bad thing?”

There’s a snide remark at the tip of her tongue--Ty Lee was very well-known around their school, and not all of it could be attributed to her dance skills, to put it lightly--but Azula bites down on it. “No. I mean…” God, she hates alcohol, and how it loosens up her barriers; she can already feel herself regretting the words about to come from her mouth. “If anything, you should be judging _me_ , because I’m seventeen years old now and I haven’t kissed anybody.” 

“Yeah, but like, that’s not on _you,_ ” Ty Lee says emphatically, like she’s never been more sure of anything in her life. She leans forward as she says this; Azula glances down briefly, at the way their bodies are almost touching, before bringing her eyes back up to hers. “You’re the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world!”

Azula does smile at that. “Well, you’re right about all those things,” she says. “But...boys always seem to think differently. The ones that _have_ tried making a move always end up running away. They act like I’m going to do something horrible to them.”

Ty Lee laughs, girly and soft; the sound of it, coupled with Ty Lee’s proximity to her, almost makes Azula shiver. “But you probably _would_ do something horrible to them. I’m sure they’re just intimidated by you.”

“And they should be,” Azula replies automatically, before sighing. “I know this is silly. You must think I’m so ridiculous right now.” 

Ty Lee shakes her head. “I could never think that,” she says. 

Azula looks back at her, and the sincerity in Ty Lee’s eyes somehow just makes her heart beat faster. 

“...Good,” she says.

“Okay, well--if you’re ever interested, you know where to find me,” Ty Lee says. She bites her lip as she looks back up, her eyes full of promise beneath her lashes. Suddenly, Azula understands why everyone goes crazy for her. “And this isn’t me pitying you, I swear, I...” Ty Lee pauses, and her smile turns shy. “I mean, look at you. Anyone who gets to kiss you would be the luckiest person in the world.”

The silence that follows is tense, charged with _something_ that Azula can’t quite place. They’ve been in closer quarters before, but this moment is different. Neither of them have moved an inch, and, despite the increasing noise levels down below, she finds it impossible to look at anything other than Ty Lee. 

“So you must be a good kisser, then?” Azula asks, her voice higher than usual. It breaks whatever spell they were on, and Ty Lee purses as her lips as she thinks.

“Um. I guess? I’m not bad, I mean. I learned a thing or so along the way.”

“Good,” Azula says again. A sense of determination washes over her, and she straightens her back and adds a determined glint to her eye. Ty Lee blinks at the sudden change in demeanor. “Teach me.” 

“Okay, when you phrase it like that…” Ty Lee trails off, uncertain. 

“As you said, It’s no big deal. It’s just like how I used to tutor you with Math.” 

“I still do need your help with Math, actually…” she says thoughtfully. 

" _Focus,_ Ty Lee," Azula says, but her voice is without its usual bite. "Just think of it as a friend helping out another friend."

Ty Lee's face falls slightly. "I mean, I don't have a problem kissing you as a...non-friend," she says slowly, her eyes downcast. Something clenches in Azula’s stomach as she hears this. "I'm just worried I won't be a good enough teacher for you."

Azula pointedly ignores the first part of her sentence--the implications are too much to handle, right now--and instead says, "You don't have to worry about that. This is my first kiss, remember? I just want a better idea of what I'm missing out on, and what I have to do. And you're the best possible teacher right now, with all of your experience."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Ty Lee mumbles. She shakes her head slightly, and then all of the hesitation is gone from her face, replaced by the usual beam that Azula knew so well. “Okay, I'll help you. Let’s do it.”

“As friends.”

“...As friends.”

Azula exhales. “Okay,” she says. “Okay. Should I be the one to lean in, or--”

“Um, I can do it,” Ty Lee says. “Wouldn’t want to bump noses, so--”

“Okay,” Azula says, clearing her throat. “Go ahead.”

“Cool,” Ty Lee says, leaning forward an inch--

And Azula jumps slightly. “One moment,” she says, before leaning away and downing the rest of her beer. Ty Lee watches her bemusedly. “Now I’m ready.”

“Maybe we should do it another time...?”

“No, no, this is the perfect time,” Azula insists, before staring back at her. “Let’s do this.”

Ty Lee just stares at her for a long moment, her lips pressed together. 

Azula squirms. She opens her mouth to ask what exactly is causing the delay, and that’s when she realizes: Ty Lee is fighting off a smile.

“You’re _laughing_ at me!” Azula says indignantly.

Despite her efforts, a small laugh escapes Ty Lee’s lips. “ _Noo_ ,” she says, shaking her head vigorously, even though the mirth is evident in her eyes. “I’m not--I just can’t believe this is happening, right now.”

Azula scoffs. She feels hot under the collar, and not even in an aroused type of way--a new wave of anxiety washes over the shame and indignity that was already churning in her stomach. Part of her wants to go back to what she knows best--to lash out, to dish out some choice words that would bring Ty Lee to tears. Another part of her just wants to get up and start running. She doesn’t know _where_ exactly she would go, but anywhere seemed better than staying here and looking like a _fool_.

“If you’re just going to stand there and make fun of me--”

Ty Lee reaches out and gently grasps her wrist. Azula stiffens, and she almost reprimands her for deigning to touch her so brazenly...but she doesn’t. 

She hopes her face isn’t as red as it feels; she does _not_ blush, but everything about this situation is so foreign to her. She’s not used to being so helpless. 

That, and Ty Lee was close. Really close. She could see the light freckles dotting her cheeks, and the way she was gazing at Azula’s lips. 

“I meant that in a good way,” Ty Lee says, softly, before closing her eyes and leaning in. And then-- _oh._

It’s chaste, and nothing more than their lips pressing against each other, but Azula’s entire body thrills with electricity.

Ty Lee was kissing her. 

Azula’s senses are momentarily overwhelmed by Ty Lee--her lips, which were even warmer and softer than they seemed, the floral scent of her perfume, and the gentle way she holds on to Azula’s wrist. It hits her, belatedly, that she should probably close her eyes or at least _respond_ in some way. And yet, doing so seemed impossible. Her entire body has frozen up. She doesn’t know what to do with her lips or with her hands, which are awkwardly hanging by her sides.

At the same time, her brain is going on overdrive as she struggles to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Ty Lee, her oldest friend, is kissing her, and…

She likes it. 

All too soon, Ty Lee pulls away. If she’s bothered by the fact that she practically kissed an ice statue, she doesn’t show it.

“Are you okay?” she asks. 

Azula nods mutely, before letting out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. Unconsciously, she raises her hand and touches her own lips, surprised at how they were slightly tingling.

“I didn’t do anything,” she says dumbly.

Ty Lee stifles a smile. “That’s okay. I didn’t do anything when Mina kissed me, too, so…”

Mina was the last person Azula wanted to hear about right now. “I’ll be better next time.”

Ty Lee’s eyes widen, and then she swallows. “Do you...want me to do that again?”

“I do,” Azula says immediately, surprised at how hoarse her voice was suddenly. She clears her throat. “I do,” she repeats. 

Slowly, Ty Lee smiles. Her smile is almost as sweet as their kiss.

Azula hesitates for a moment, before reaching out to gently cup Ty Lee’s cheek. She’s hit with a sudden feeling of determination, in that she wants to excel at this too, the way she does at every other aspect of her life. This time, it’s _her_ who’s leaning in, and their eyes remain connected up until the moment their lips press together again. 

They stay like that for a few seconds, and Azula stills because, really, she does _not_ know what she’s doing. She knows people move their lips around, but the exact mechanics of it were still Greek to her. 

Thankfully, Ty Lee must sense her uncertainty, because she initiates; she uses her lips carefully, teasing them against Azula’s before brushing more fully and gently running her tongue past Azula’s bottom lip. Azula’s mouth opens to her automatically, and she attempts to respond accordingly, to follow Ty Lee’s own rhythm. Ty Lee makes a pleased noise at this, and the sound of it encourages Azula further. 

She pulls away for a second, their lips just a hair’s breadth away from each other, and then she tugs Ty Lee closer again. And, okay, she might have been a _bit_ too eager, because their teeth clash together and it’s not a pleasant sensation. 

Azula cringes internally, but Ty Lee doesn’t say anything; she simply moves her hand to the back of Azula’s neck, tilting her head the opposite way until their mouths slot properly together and...wow.

Azula gasps, and Ty Lee smiles against her. 

It’s easier, this time around, to fall into a natural rhythm. Warmth envelops Azula’s entire body as they continue kissing, her blood running hot everywhere they touch. The cold air and the noises of the crowd fade into nothingness; she can only focus on the way Ty Lee’s body feels pressed against hers, and how the sound of their lips sliding together is almost deafening, spurring her on. A moan slips out of her before she can stop it, and she feels the way Ty Lee’s nails dig into her neck in response. 

Part of Azula thinks she’s going to pass out, until she realizes that her bodily instincts are failing her and that she needs to breathe manually. She inhales deeply through her nose. Ty Lee feels it and giggles lightly against her, the sound and feel of it sending pleasant vibrations throughout Azula.

Time fades away. At some point, Ty Lee pulls away again, their lips making an audible smacking sound once they break apart. Azula’s shaking a little bit, her entire body still trying to get used to the new sensations. She notes, with a sense of pride, that Ty Lee looks just as affected as she feels; her eyes are dark and hooded, her lips shiny, and her hair all mussed up.

She’s so beautiful it’s breathtaking, Azula realizes, and she doesn’t really have enough breath left to be taken. 

“That was…” Ty Lee murmurs, before shaking her head and laughing disbelievingly. “I should’ve known you’d be a fast learner.”

“Yeah, you should’ve,” Azula says, but then she’s unable to fight the smile on her face. “But I also had a good teacher.” 

Ty Lee laughs, or at least tries to. She’s still staring at Azula like she’s the second coming of Christ, like she can’t look away from her even if she tried. 

“...Thank you,” Azula says, once her breath starts evening out. “That was a good first kiss. I’m glad I didn’t have it with Chan.” 

“That’s really not a high standard,” Ty Lee says lightly. “But me too.”

Azula smiles. Without thinking about it, she reaches out to tuck a loose curl of hair behind Ty Lee’s ear. 

Somehow, Ty Lee’s blush deepens even further. Still, she doesn’t break eye contact; she looks into Azula’s eyes, almost like she’s searching for something, and she must find it, because she smiles and says, “I kinda want to kiss you again.” 

“Do it, then,” Azula tells her. 

And she’s powerless to resist. It’s magnetic, the way they both reach for each other. Ty Lee’s hands automatically weave themselves in Azula’s hair, and Azula finds herself wondering why on earth they didn’t do this earlier.

There’s no use agonizing over the past, though, and as Ty Lee presses up against her, the only thing she can think is that she needs to make up for the lost time. 

So she does.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas! Have some gay kisses ho ho ho
> 
> This is my first time posting a fic in...forever hahaha. Comments are very much appreciated!!
> 
> Some of these lines were sourced from the legendary "The Beach" episode. I also got some names from The Millionaire Detective (great show, would recommend) so if some names are familiar, that's why lol. Last, but certainly not the least, the title is from Taylor Swift's gold rush (my jam).
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


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